Stephen Baldwin, from
Upton Bishop near Ross on Wye in Herefordshire, was born in the
early 1870s, and, although he was around 80 years old when he was
recorded in 1954, was still a fine, vigorous player. Stephen
Baldwin was the youngest son of Charles Baldwin of Newent in
Gloucestershire, a fiddler from whom Cecil Sharp collected
several tunes in 1910, including the Clifford's Mesne Morris Call.
Russell Wortley, who recorded him, described Stephen as 'a first-rate fiddler' and recalled:'He played solely by ear, and had learnt many tunes from his father. It was one Christmas, about 1897, that he stood in for the regular musician of the Bromsberrow Heath Morris Dancers, who was ill. Evidently, he took a liking to their dance, and, for two or three seasons at the turn of the century, he had a team of his own performing it at Mitcheldean where he then lived. He told me that very few places had Morris dancers at that time, but that probably many more had them ten years earlier'.
A long-deleted LP. 'Stephen Baldwin, English Village Fiddler' Leader LED2068 recorded by Russell Wortley and produced by Bill Leader, was released in the 1970s. The recording quality was good given the age of the recordings and the echoey location. The recording also included snatches of Baldwin's conversation.
The tracks were
Gloucester hornpipe - Greensleeves - Haste to the wedding - Flanagan's ball - The girl I left behind - The Irish washerwoman - Liverpool hornpipe - Napoleon's march - Cottage hornpipe - Untitled hornpipe 1 - Off she goes - Pop goes the weasel - Coleford jig - Ted Smith's hornpipe - Untitled polka - Cock of the north - Soldier's joy - College hornpipe - Irish jig - Old fashioned waltz - Untitled schottische 1 - Untitled schottische 2 - Heel and toe polka - Varsoviana - Untitled hornpipe 2 - Cabbages and onions - Pretty little dear - Just as the tide was flowing - Anywhere does for me
Alan Ward, reviewing the LP at the time, commented: 'Baldwin's playing displays three main characteristics: long, clear bow-strokes which bring out quite a full, swooping tone from the fiddle, consistently good pitch to modern ears, and well controlled, at times quite exciting, rhythm'. The first two of these were pretty unusual in comparison with most of the recorded players from this background and period. In fact, Baldwin struck Ward as 'quite an accomplished player by any standards; he's a bit rusty in places but Liverpool Hornpipe and College Hornpipe, Cock of the north and the Schottisches all strike me as performances for which no excuses are required'.
Stephen Baldwin's repertoire was still large and quite typical with Victorian composed pieces, older country dance tunes, and music associated with the Morris dancing for which he played at various periods. Apparently, there was a noticeable change in his playing after he had accompanied a visiting Morris dance team, the Travelling Morrice.
The stick dance from Bromsberrow Heath, near Ledbury, has achieved currency among Morris dancers. It was collected from Stephen Baldwin by Russell Wortley in April 1947. Stephen Baldwin's favourite tune for the dance was 'Cock of the North', but he said they used to perform the same dance to various tunes and mentioned 'The Flowers of Edinburgh' as an alternative. The dance was performed by the Travelling Morrice under Mr. Baldwin's direction at Upton Bishop on June 28th, 1947, and repeated in 1948, 1950 and 1954. Stephen Baldwin played on each occasion. In 1950, the dance was taken back to Bromsberrow Heath, where it was a delightful surprise to find two of the old dancers, Ralph and Alvin Hill, still flourishing and obviously thrilled to see their dance again.
The tune from Stephen Baldwin's repertoire that you're most likely to hear today is his version of 'Heel and Toe Polka' with its unusual third part. This has been taken up by several ceilidh bands.